A growth in the number of giant pandas being born in China has led to the species being removed from the endangered list.

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The latest version of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List upgrades the giant panda (ailuropoda melanoleuca) from endangered to "vulnerable".

While this is good news for the panda, other animals have not faired as well. The IUCN has added the eastern gorilla to the "critically endangered" category – meaning four out of six great ape species are one step away from extinction.

The eastern gorilla joins the western gorilla – the type of gorilla Harambe was – Bornean Orangutan, and Sumatran Orangutan in the "critically endangered" category. The chimpanzee and bonobo are listed as "endangered".

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"Its population is now estimated to be fewer than 5,000," the ICUN says. "Grauer’s gorilla (G. b. graueri), one subspecies of eastern gorilla – has lost 77 per cent of its population since 1994, declining from 16,900 individuals to just 3,800 in 2015."

The eastern gorilla population has seen the large decline due to hunting, killing, and capture of the apes. "To see the eastern gorilla – one of our closest cousins – slide towards extinction is truly distressing," says Inger Andersen, IUCN Director General.

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As well as the gorillas, the plains zebra has moved to "near threatened|" and three species of African antelope – bay duiker (cephalophus dorsalis), white-bellied duiker (cephalophus leucogaster) and yellow-backed duiker – have also been made "near threatened".

The IUCN's scale runs in the following order: least concern, near threatened, vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, extinct in the wild, and, finally, extinct.

Reclassification of the giant pandas, which can weigh up to 160kg, is the latest in 26 years of the animal moving towards extinction. They were classified as endangered in 1990, 1994, 1996, and 2008.

Getty Images / John Sommers II

Statistics from the IUCN say there are now approximately 2,060 giant pandas in the wild. The last official statistics estimated there were 1,864 of the creatures, but now new cubs have been added to the number to create the revised total. "The population has started to increase," the IUCN says.

The rising number of giant pandas can be put down to effective forest protection and reforestation. It explains: "The improved status confirms that the Chinese government's efforts to conserve the species are effective".

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However, they are still marked as vulnerable and the IUCN says as climate change further takes hold 35 per cent of the panda's "bamboo habitat" will be destroyed in the next 80 years – leading to another decline in its population. This will see a "reversing the gains made during the last two decades".

As well as the pandas being upgraded, the Tibetan antelope has moved from "endangered" to "near threatened", the greater stick-nest rat has moved from "vulnerable" to "near threatened", and the bridled nailtail wallaby is now "vulnerable" rather than "endangered".